diff --git a/trace2/tr2_tbuf.c b/trace2/tr2_tbuf.c
index c3b3822ed7e4af..ef57376f3c3e24 100644
--- a/trace2/tr2_tbuf.c
+++ b/trace2/tr2_tbuf.c
@@ -3,45 +3,64 @@
 
 void tr2_tbuf_local_time(struct tr2_tbuf *tb)
 {
-	struct timeval tv;
-	struct tm tm;
+	struct timeval tv = { 0 };
+	struct tm tm = { 0 };
 	time_t secs;
+	int len;
 
 	gettimeofday(&tv, NULL);
 	secs = tv.tv_sec;
 	localtime_r(&secs, &tm);
 
-	xsnprintf(tb->buf, sizeof(tb->buf), "%02d:%02d:%02d.%06ld", tm.tm_hour,
-		  tm.tm_min, tm.tm_sec, (long)tv.tv_usec);
+	len = snprintf(tb->buf, sizeof(tb->buf), "%02d:%02d:%02d.%06ld",
+		       tm.tm_hour, tm.tm_min, tm.tm_sec, (long)tv.tv_usec);
+
+	if (len < 0 || (size_t)len >= sizeof(tb->buf)) {
+		const char *blank = "00:00:00.000000";
+		strlcpy(tb->buf, blank, sizeof(tb->buf));
+	}
 }
 
 void tr2_tbuf_utc_datetime_extended(struct tr2_tbuf *tb)
 {
-	struct timeval tv;
-	struct tm tm;
+	struct timeval tv = { 0 };
+	struct tm tm = { 0 };
 	time_t secs;
+	int len;
 
 	gettimeofday(&tv, NULL);
 	secs = tv.tv_sec;
 	gmtime_r(&secs, &tm);
 
-	xsnprintf(tb->buf, sizeof(tb->buf),
-		  "%4d-%02d-%02dT%02d:%02d:%02d.%06ldZ", tm.tm_year + 1900,
-		  tm.tm_mon + 1, tm.tm_mday, tm.tm_hour, tm.tm_min, tm.tm_sec,
-		  (long)tv.tv_usec);
+	len = snprintf(tb->buf, sizeof(tb->buf),
+		       "%4d-%02d-%02dT%02d:%02d:%02d.%06ldZ",
+		       tm.tm_year + 1900, tm.tm_mon + 1, tm.tm_mday,
+		       tm.tm_hour, tm.tm_min, tm.tm_sec, (long)tv.tv_usec);
+
+	if (len < 0 || (size_t)len >= sizeof(tb->buf)) {
+		const char *blank = "1900-00-00T00:00:00.000000Z";
+		strlcpy(tb->buf, blank, sizeof(tb->buf));
+	}
 }
 
 void tr2_tbuf_utc_datetime(struct tr2_tbuf *tb)
 {
-	struct timeval tv;
-	struct tm tm;
+	struct timeval tv = { 0 };
+	struct tm tm = { 0 };
 	time_t secs;
+	int len;
 
 	gettimeofday(&tv, NULL);
 	secs = tv.tv_sec;
 	gmtime_r(&secs, &tm);
 
-	xsnprintf(tb->buf, sizeof(tb->buf), "%4d%02d%02dT%02d%02d%02d.%06ldZ",
-		  tm.tm_year + 1900, tm.tm_mon + 1, tm.tm_mday, tm.tm_hour,
-		  tm.tm_min, tm.tm_sec, (long)tv.tv_usec);
+	len = snprintf(tb->buf, sizeof(tb->buf),
+		       "%4d%02d%02dT%02d%02d%02d.%06ldZ",
+		       tm.tm_year + 1900, tm.tm_mon + 1, tm.tm_mday,
+		       tm.tm_hour, tm.tm_min, tm.tm_sec, (long)tv.tv_usec);
+
+	if (len < 0 || (size_t)len >= sizeof(tb->buf)) {
+		const char *blank = "19000000T000000.000000Z";
+		strlcpy(tb->buf, blank, sizeof(tb->buf));
+	}
 }